Hot topic #7: Charity events

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It's time for a new hot topic! This time we will be discussing charity events.

Charity events have existed for some time now on TruckersMP and during the years we had to review some of our community event requirements to take these specific events into account. This has evolved to charity events being required to have an endorsement of the non-profit organisation or official donation link for the event by that non-profit organisation. The reason for this specific requirement is to allow us to protect you, the player, from malicious and fraudulent "charities" as anyone is able to set up a funding page online.

What are your experiences with charity events? Do you think the specific requirements for those events need to be more strict? How would you organise such events?

Discuss it all in this topic!

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Well, I just got some information about this charity events few months ago and I think that's really great that someone is making events in this game to help people and not just to have fun with other drivers. To be honest, I don't know about specific requirements for those events but I think they should be very strict as It will be sad If I donate this charity event money from my pocket and someone will just use it to have fun and won't use it for charity I mean.

Also, It will be great If we, community make some events which will support TruckersMP developers, so our mod owners will have more money to make our multiplayer better.

I am in the process of getting my own Event up and running, Blue Eyes. More information of which will be announced soon on my Forum Profile.

We as planners strive to make the best events we can and to support the charities selected. When you reach the endpoint at 3am, absolutely exhausted, you get a burst of energy, when you realise, wow. We've ne something amazing here.

I work with the Community Event Network, a divison of the International Truckers Network, as they have contacts with VTCs, Media Teams, and even apps!

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- not only does it bring together the community, it changes the community in lots of different ways, by supporting people who are affected in the community by sharing the love, and showing there is more to gaming than sitting in a chair, not moving - it brings together people and shows how good people are, personally I'd say keep it up to everyone who runs Charity Events, and they're a great addition.

I'd not say make the requirements strict, it's about having fun but also spreading awareness!

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I too have been on the planning and operations teams behind many events. Ensuring that these events can go ahead smoothly is really important and getting the help, support and all relevant information from TMP is vital to this. Mostly, TMP have been very supportive with any of our requests. I do, however, completely see where there is a possibility for people to abuse the system and this is totally unexceptable.

Going forward, what I think would be a good idea is to try and engage the TMP team as much as possible in charity events. Have the TMP team almost as a regulatory body who will go through each event and ask all the relevant questions. This will of course massively increase the workload for the TMP team, but hopefully it will protect the end users who could be tricked into giving money to an event, which is not legitimate.

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As a charity event organizer I have seen multiple things that work and do not work.

For anyone who has ever had the idea to run a charity event, go for it, try it out.

I have noticed that your biggest attendance count will be within VTC's. Having parking where VTC's can book also encourages their drivers to turn up and represent their VTC's, also having prizes for a truck fest is key.

Keep in mind that attending means lots too, not everyone will donate!

Best of luck to anyone running an event! I can be contacted on the forums or on Discord for advice.

Sincerely,

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With the birth of Haulage 64 nearly 4 and a half years ago back in 2015, my aim was to bring the community together and encourage others to produce fantastic events with the goal being to help other people, children, animals etc. through selfless donations and raising awareness of various causes. I'd say the community has done pretty well. Since August 2015, together we have raised £11,704.63 and the years isn't over yet! with CiN2018 from WTL just round the corner, I expect us to finish the year on at least £12,500.

As far as the requirements go, I also had some input into this earlier this year, I think there does need to be some requirements and regulation into how we raise money as it reflects on the community as a whole when you look at the bigger picture. However, I think there becomes a point where regulations and requirement becomes excessive. When it comes to fundraising though, i agree that the method needs to be foolproof, and all donations go direct to the charity intended.

Organising these types of event has become easier over the years, the first step is always the hardest and that's exactly what i took in 2015, but since then I have watched the community grow from 3 Charity events a year in 2015 to 10 in 2018. That's more than I expected. My experiences vary from event to event, I have helped plan and run a number of charity events and each one is different, I have had the pleasure of working with some great people (and some not so great) all with the same goal, and I think its great to see.

I do think that the growth of charity events has also sparked and caused growth in community engagement, and personally, we don't do it for fame, but I don't think we are recognised enough.

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Yes, be more strict when it comes to the requirements cause it can be prevent frauds throughout this organization. And to practice the committed members to be more responsible when joining charity events.

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Well, if you want to donate to a charity, do it directly and avoid the "middle man". Simple as that.

Exactly my point, the problem is that this is not the place to collect charity money. The age of the average driver is a single digit, and I'd directly donate to charity or an organization if I wanted to, no need to plug in virtual trucks into the mix.

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Exactly my point, the problem is that this is not the place to collect charity money. The age of the average driver is a single digit, and I'd directly donate to charity or an organization if I wanted to, no need to plug in virtual trucks into the mix.

I totally agree with you there. This isn't the right place to collect money for charity.

Although you both have a valid point about donating directly to the charity by choice, these sound like the words of those who haven't experienced the atmosphere of one of our fantastic charity events. Not saying you haven't attended any, just that you may have missed out on the atmospherics. Raising money together while doing something we all enjoy is something our planners put a lot of hard work into, many of the charity events are planned for months and then run over an extended period of time, usually a minimum of 24 hours; during which I have seen lifelong friendships, and even real life relationships form out of some of our events, you can't argue that's not something special.

This said, I do think there needs to be some changed to the charity events sector of TMP, but i'll address Digital directly rather than post them here.

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Although you both have a valid point about donating directly to the charity by choice, these sound like the words of those who haven't experienced the atmosphere of one of our fantastic charity events. Not saying you haven't attended any, just that you may have missed out on the atmospherics. Raising money together while doing something we all enjoy is something our planners put a lot of hard work into, many of the charity events are planned for months and then run over an extended period of time, usually a minimum of 24 hours; during which I have seen lifelong friendships, and even real life relationships form out of some of our events, you can't argue that's not something special.

This said, I do think there needs to be some changed to the charity events sector of TMP, but i'll address Digital directly rather than post them here.

To be honest. No, i haven't attended one of your charity events yet. But that's because i just missed them out. So after thinking about it i would say you're totally right.